Gary Redevelopment Commission members heard public review of proposals for construction on the city’s Genesis Convention Center at its monthly meeting Wednesday.
After a request for interest, or RFI, was released last year, Gary received seven proposals that presented ideas, said Corrie Sharp, the city’s director of zoning.
“After that, we took the collection of those ideas and put them into a request for proposal for the development of the site,” Sharp said. “The site itself is just over six acres, and we pretty much left it open for the development community to present, continue to flesh out their ideas and to present a full development proposal for the project.”
According to the city of Gary’s website, the city issued a request for proposals, or RFP, on Jan. 5, and proposals were due by noon March 24. The proposals will be reviewed this month, and the selection is scheduled for April 22.
Following the RFP, the city received six proposals, Sharp said.
Proposals came from Agape Education Foundation for a mixed concept that includes sports, entertainment, housing, retail and offices; Gary Cultural Center for the Arts focused on arts and culture; CDC Construction for an entertainment center, ballroom and bowling; TRINITY Group Construction for sports entertainment and housing; Luxe Life with an early concept for housing and a long-term concept for mixed use retail, restaurant, hotel and cultural programming; and New Frontier Ventures Corporation for senior housing and mixed use spaces.
“Our team is going to continue to vet those proposals and work through the nuances of that,” Sharp said. “… All six proposals had the element of mixed use, which is great. They understand this core concept of what we’re looking for.”
In June 2025, the city released an RFI for the redevelopment of the downtown convention center. An RFI typically comes before an RFP and collects information on groups or partners that might be interested in a property, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Gary officials originally anticipated that the RFP would be released in fall 2025.
Key goals of the project include preserving the convention center’s historical significance; introducing flexible and functional design elements; supporting arts, entertainment, commerce and civic events; and stimulating local economic development and workforce opportunities, according to the city’s RFI.
Gary will implement and fund demolition for the convention center, according to city documents. The city also plans to demolish the on-site parking garage due to “a deteriorated structural condition.”
The Genesis center was built in 1981, and in January 2021, it was sold to Akyumen Industries, which planned to use the facility as its corporate headquarters and temporary manufacturing site, according to Post-Tribune archives. The company agreed to buy the property for $2.5 million with $150,000 due on closing.
The remainder had to be paid within 180 days before the property reverted back to the city, according to archives. In July 2021, city officials announced that Gary didn’t receive the full $2.5 million by deadline.
The Genesis center is one of the various downtown Gary properties included in the city’s master plan with the University of Notre Dame’s Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative.
“We are committed to creating a vibrant and thriving downtown Gary,” Mayor Eddie Melton said in a previous statement. “Reactivating the Genesis center is a cornerstone of that vision.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
